


Beneath the Mask

by Tayani



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gift Fic, Hair Washing, M/M, Open and Honest Relationships, P5R spoilers (based on trailers at least), Pining, bathhouse, spoilers for the entire P5 game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 01:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20715719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: One cold, winter day, two boys stop by the bathhouse on their way from yet another Metaverse mission.





	Beneath the Mask

**Author's Note:**

  * For [asketchygowo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asketchygowo/gifts).

> A gift for the wonderful Ray. Thank you so much!

“…is this really necessary?”

Akira turned around, his hands fumbling with the towel, trying to wrap it a bit more securely around his hips. Goro Akechi was standing behind him, still fully dressed. His hands lingered over his sweater vest, as if he was about to take it off but changed his mind along the way.

In the silent, empty bathhouse, Akira could almost hear his heartbeat picking up. Goro’s eyes were bearing into him, making him feel even more naked than he was already. Akira shook his head, letting his hair hide his eyes from view and hoping desperately his rising blush has been hidden by it as well. Was Goro watching him change, while he assumed the other boy would be too busy undressing himself to pay attention…? Why did that thought make his head spin and his heart thump in his chest?

Well, he knew why. But the feelings he had for Goro were a thing of the past now – or should be, at least. Once upon a time, in the golden autumn light, he had fallen in love with the very detective chasing him, and nothing that happened afterwards was able to change that. Now, the cold winter wind swept over them in this strange reality only the two of them knew wasn’t quite right. Akira knew, technically, he should have let the wind sweep away his feelings for Goro as well, but they persevered, burning bright in his chest and keeping him warm against the coldness of their situation.

Which did not mean he was going to act on them. That would be a mad thing to do, and he definitely wasn’t mad. Right?

“I don’t get what you mean,” Akira said presently, looking away as he fixed the towel over his hips. He saw Goro shift his weight onto one leg and saw his features – more raw, more open than the boy he met all those months ago at the TV station – shift into annoyance, and then into a guarded, tense expression.

“…we’ve agreed we’ll work together,  _ Joker _ . It’s the only possible course of action if you really want to overcome this twisted reality and go back to the imperfect one we’ve left behind. Spending time together… inviting me over to a bathhouse after our trip into the Metaverse… I’d think, after all I’ve put you through, your response would be to discard this pretence of  _ friendship _ by now. You don’t  _ need to  _ invite me anywhere.”

“It’s not a pretence,” Akira said in a quiet voice that sounded much more on edge than what he hoped for. He felt Goro’s eyes on himself again. “And you didn’t need to accept the invitation.”

Their eyes met and after a while, Goro looked away, pulling the sweater vest off obediently. Akira nodded, moving past him, trying not to think how close they were in the suddenly too small locker room, with him almost naked, and Goro actively working towards the same goal.

“I’ll—I’ll go on ahead. Join me once you’re ready,” he mumbled and walked into the steamy, hot bathhouse.

As Akira sat down by the showers, he felt some of the tension bleed out of his body. It was alright; his decision to invite Goro to the bathhouse and an even more surprising fact that Goro accepted the invitation didn’t change a thing. They went to the bathhouse together a few times before. Just because their relationship had changed – become more open and honest, for starters – it didn’t mean they couldn’t simply enjoy a good soak in the bath anymore.

Akira rinsed his hair just as the door to the locker room slid open, revealing Goro, similarly naked, his hips wrapped in a towel. Akira smiled faintly and grabbed his own, covering himself a bit again as he moved away from the showers. The former detective came close and sat down right on the place he had just vacated. Akira watched – the temperature of his body rising considerably – as Goro let the towel slide off his perfect hips, reaching for the showerhead, meeting Akira’s eye in the mirror.

“…are you going to watch me wash myself?” Goro sneered, though the sneer wasn’t enough to hide the pink colouring his cheekbones. Akira shook his head and then – as the brunet stuck his head under the water – his eyes narrowed and a very Joker-like smirk stretched his lips.

“Not just watch, no,” he said in lieu of a warning, before grabbing a stool and plopping himself right behind Goro, sticking his fingers in his soft, wet hair.

The shriek Goro let out was well worth the risk, at least.

“W-what—”

“Relax,” Akira said, smiling as he grabbed a shampoo bottle and poured a generous amount over Goro’s hair, one hand still stuck in his soft locks. As he started to massage his scalp, Akira thought the only reason why he wasn’t currently laying on the floor with his jaw dislocated was because Goro had no idea how to react. By the time he realized he should possibly not be letting Akira wash his hair for him while they were both naked in an empty bathhouse, Akira was already getting started and the detective melted under his touch. The tense moment passed; Goro’s hands fell to his sides as Akira carefully washed his hair, selfishly letting his touch linger. He prolonged it for as long as he could until Goro was so calm and relaxed under his fingertips that when Akira tilted his head to rinse his hair out for him, the brunet went with it without resistance or complaint, all but laying onto Akira’s lap and sighing contently.

The water stopped flowing; all the soap bubbles were gone. Akira’s hand threaded through Goro’s soft locks, moving to rest on the side of his head, cradling his cheek. It was dangerous; intimate, a touch of a lover. Where Goro’s head leaned against him, Akira saw his lips stretch in a gentle, barely-there smile.

“…ah,” Goro said, so quiet Akira wasn’t sure he heard him right. “So that’s why…”

They stood up – first Goro, then Akira, following him in a kind of daze. Goro curled up once he entered the hot water, his knees pulled tightly against his chest. And yet, even in the curled-up position, he seemed relaxed, as if the shell he shed while Akira washed his hair was left behind, to be picked up on his way out of the bathhouse. Akira couldn’t say he minded. He smiled and slipped into the tub himself.

The hot water surrounded him like a blanket – this was always his favourite part of going to the bathhouse, the heat enveloping him, warming him up all the way down to his bones. It made all of his anxiety and stress dissolve; made the knots in his back relax and his thoughts float free.

At the moment, they didn’t float far. As Akira’s gaze lingered on the curled-up figure beside him, so did his thoughts. Goro’s crimson eyes turned to look at him and Akira felt himself become hopelessly lost in the glint somewhere deep inside them.

This was ridiculous. This was _dangerous_. And, Akira thought, he was never very good at avoiding danger. Goro seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“…when you said this was not a pretence…” the brunet started, voice hesitant. He then sighed; his eyes closed. Akira tilted his head.

“You’ve said it yourself, haven’t you? We could’ve been great rivals if only we’ve had a little more time. Or perhaps even friends…”

“I said, if we’ve met  _ earlier _ . Before—”

“What if I don’t care about  _ before _ ?” Akira interrupted; a rare flash of anger shooting through his mind, fast as lightning. He saw Goro’s eyes snap open, staring at him. As if Akira was some kind of a madman. 

Well. Perhaps he really  _ was  _ mad.

Akira sighed, stretching out in the tub and covering his face with his hands. They were hot from the water; the heat feeling pleasant against his face.

“What if I  _ don’t want to  _ care…? For goodness sake, Goro… we’ve been to hell and back together. We’ve stolen the hearts of the society together. You’ve almost given your life to protect us. Now, we’re somehow the only two who refuse to let this skewed reality persist on. You’re the only one who’d believe me; who’d help me. I’d have thought we’re past… all  _ that _ .”

Akira parted his fingers, peering at Goro from behind them. He was very still, crimson eyes glinting on his face like the only two living parts of a statue. And then, Goro’s face transformed into a frown; he uncurled himself, though his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

“You know… this always pissed me off  _ so much _ about you,” Goro said, in a voice that was somehow less the soft, familiar tone and more a thick, barely-controlled sneer. It made the words he spoke sound less like sentences and more like a force of nature, barely controlled, surely about to rip through any barriers one would set against it. 

“This… this naïve,  _ stupid _ idealism of yours. This willingness to forgive. This…  _ ridiculous nobility _ . You should’ve hated me, Joker. Just once… I’d have liked to see you consumed with hatred, yearning for revenge… perhaps  _ then  _ you’d  _ understand—” _

“As if I  _ didn’t  _ understand,” Akira snarled right back and for just a moment, delighting in seeing these garnet eyes widen in surprise. Goro actually moved back, just a little bit. There were no masks between them now; no pretence. 

“I don’t—“

“You didn’t see me, did you? After we’ve pulled you out of the Metaverse. After we’ve left you, barely clinging to life at Takemi’s, and went to deal with the piece of garbage who did all that to you. You didn’t see me, you weren’t there when they had to hold me back from killing him, did you? Because I would have, Goro. I could have forgiven this guy fucking up my life; I could have forgiven a  _ lot.  _ But that—“

Goro’s eyes widened more and more as Akira spoke until he finally had to stop, too many words he wanted to say blocking his mouth. And then, to Akira’s surprise and annoyance, he heard Goro laugh; laugh long and true, his voice ringing out in the empty bathhouse. 

“Akira Kurusu… almost a murderer, for  _ my sake _ , of all things. Really… this is just…” he stopped talking and laughed again. Akira really wanted to hit him, just a little bit. He also really wanted to kiss that stupid laughter from these stupid lips. 

“Wouldn’t Yaldabaoth have delighted in this; if, by the fall of one of his puppets, he managed to defile another. It makes me really quite happy you’ve put a bullet through that fucker’s head, Akira.” 

And then, Goro smiled, and it was a smile Akira has never seen on his face before. It was the first truly genuine smile the brunet has ever given him. Goro’s eyes sparkled with it and he reached out his hand, cupping Akira’s cheek in it. His body unfolded in the water, leaning in. He was close, very close; his touch, his everything felt hot, and Akira wasn’t sure if it’s the fault of the water they were sitting in or something else entirely. 

“I know your true feelings now, Akira-kun,” Goro purred. Akira felt his words graze his lips in a gust of warm breath. “Shall I throw away all pretence as well…?” 

He leaned in, even closer than before. Akira closed his eyes; all he felt was Goro’s heat; all he heard was the thumping of the heart in his chest…

...until instead, it was the sound of the locker room door sliding open with a thud, and the splash Goro made as he all but jumped away, face extremely red and eyes wide in alarm. An older gentleman stood, squinting short-sightedly, in their direction. He bowed a polite hello, and the two of them bowed back, mutely, watching the old man move towards the showers. An awkward silence fell over them like a thick blanket. 

“...right.” Akira was the first one to speak and then fell silent all over again when, instead of replying, Goro stood up and reached his hand out to him. He was still very naked, very red and very not looking at him - but Akira took his hand even so, allowing himself to be pulled up as well.

“...it’s getting crowded,” Goro said, still not looking at him. “I think we would benefit from… taking it outside? To your quarters at Leblanc, perhaps?”

Akira grinned. His hand squeezed Goro’s lightly. 

“I’ll make you coffee.”

“Perhaps… a cold drink, after all this heat,” Goro said, clearing his throat. “One we could take upstairs…?”

Akira’s grin only broadened at that. As they walked out of the bath and towards the locker rooms again, hands joined, waving goodbye to the old man watching them go, Akira reflected that - perhaps he really was mad. 

But, just perhaps… this wasn’t such a bad thing to be, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my stories, you can find me on twitter [@mikan_writings](https://twitter.com/mikan_writings) and/or tumblr at [mikan_writings](https://mikan-writings.tumblr.com/)!


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